If you’re giving a presentation, storytelling can help you break down walls with your audience, earn their trust and, ultimately, influence them to do the thing you want them to do — accept your idea, approve your budget, invite you back, or hire you on the spot. But storytelling is a tool that should be … Read more
Have you ever told a story that bombed? Or that just didn’t get the response you were hoping for? Don’t feel bad — it happens to everyone. But if you want to keep it from happening again, you need to diagnose what went wrong. Chances are, you made one (or more) of these fatal storytelling mistakes. … Read more
There, I said it. It feels good to get that off my chest. When I do presentations, I get all kinds of feedback, from the eye-opening to the mind-bending. But until recently I’d never been accused of being a mindless tool of the capitalist agenda. Estela and the Candy Factory It was during a webinar when … Read more
If you want to break down walls with an audience and influence them to act, nothing beats a well-told story. To create that story, simplicity is key: you need three basic elements: Character Goal Challenge Now you can make it as complicated as you want, layering on other elements like a turning point or a … Read more
The more this Brian Williams story plays out, the more ridiculous it seems. Unless NBC knows something the rest of us don’t, a six-month suspension seems pretty draconian. (But not draconian enough for those demanding he be fired.) I don’t really have a dog in this fight. I don’t watch the NBC Nightly News (or any … Read more
Storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to engage and persuade an audience. But not if you’re telling the same old stories we’ve all heard a thousand times before. You need to tell truly original stories — otherwise, people will tune you out. Here’s What Not to Do Stop me if you’ve heard this … Read more
Storytelling has become one of the most overused, misused and abused concepts in business today. People play fast and loose with the definition of story. So what is a story? The first step in figuring that out what a story is, is understanding what a story is not. A quote from Winston Churchill is not a … Read more
I hate to be the one to break the news, but your brain lies to you. Constantly. The good news is, you can use that knowledge to your advantage in telling your story. And storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to engage your audience and get them to act, whether it’s clicking through … Read more
President Kennedy’s iconic “we choose to go to the moon” speech, which I watched the other day near the anniversary of his death, offers important storytelling tips for anyone trying to explain complex ideas to a general audience. Watch the video (or read the speech here), and see how Kennedy uses analogy to put abstract concepts—big … Read more
On Monday I led a 90-minute storytelling workshop in New York for a CEO and his direct reports. They were trying to work out how to rally and unite their employees, but I came away with something, too: what I’m modestly calling A Grand Unified Theory of Storytelling. The event’s organizers had an artist there … Read more